Exploring the World's Tunnels

Tunnels, for many, inspire only claustrophobia and are tough to visit. Still, tunnel fans manage to worm their way in. See some of the world's tunnels and the boring machines workers use to dig through.

Aug. 25, 2013 7:52 p.m. ET

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Using high-tech tunnel-boring machines, shown, workers dig tunnels for London's Crossrail train line, which is expected to be fully operational in 2019. Two rare days of public access to the site in September are already fully booked.
Crossrail…

During construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps, visitors have had access to parts of the project and a visitors' center, shown. The tunnel is scheduled to open in 2016.
AlpTransit…

Workers dig tunnels for the Crossrail train line under London. Bridges, dams and skyscrapers awe the multitudes and often feature visitor centers. Tunnels, for many, inspire only claustrophobia and are tough to visit. Still, tunnel fans manage to worm their way in.
Crossrail…

Workers pose for a picture at the site of the Crossrail metro line.
Crossrail…

Heavy equipment is lowered into place to work on the Crossrail train line. A tunnel is 'something that's hidden,' says Ian Mansfield, a tunnel enthusiast in London and member of Subterranea Britannica, an organization focused on man-made underground structures and spaces.
Crossrail…

Workers dig tunnels for the Crossrail train line under London, using traditional excavation and high-tech tunnel boring machines.
Crossrail…

In Norway, designers of the 15-mile-long Laerdal Tunnel, a road tunnel between Oslo and Bergen, feared that driving it would get dangerously monotonous. So they fought tunnel vision with divisions.
Geir Brekke/Norwegian Public Roads Administration…

Three artificial caves are dramatically lighted in a relaxing green or hues of sky blue and sunrise yellow. People have even gotten married in the space.
Jarle Waehler/Norwegian Public Roads Administration…

In Switzerland, the Gotthard Base Tunnel will be the world's longest transportation tunnel when it opens. Here, tours of the project. Once the tunnel opens in three years, AlpTransit may continue offering tours of the control center and emergency-access areas.
AlpTransit…

Switzerland is so proud of its tunneling achievements that the 33-foot-tall, 225-ton circular cutting face of a borer known as Sissi, which was used in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, was unveiled outside the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne at a June 2012 ceremony, shown.
Christoph Imseng…